Toward a Rationale and Technical Specifications for an Adult High School Equivalency Exam. Research Monograph Number 5.

Larson, Gordon A.; And Others

Adult educators in the state of New Jersey have expressed concern about the adequacy of the 1978 General Educational Development (GED) test. Based on these concerns research was conducted in the use and applicability of the current GED test. The project investigated whether the existing GED test was meeting the needs of the large majority of GED candidates, whether it was validly assessing the types of skills and knowledge that were most important to various consumers of GED test results, and whether there was a market for an alternative test that would be based on a different rationale. Discussion and information gathering within the educational community and in the business community revealed that the GED does not serve all purposes and that an alternative test would be acceptable if it were sanctioned by the state of New Jersey. In addition, researchers compiled a list of specifications for an alternative test. As outlined in this report, the technical specifications cover general design factors and four subtests: reading proficiency, mathematics, writing, and applied problem solving. For each of the subtests, the report addresses common problems, problems with the GED test in that field, basic design characteristics for a valid test of adult proficiency, and other technical specifications. A bibliography concludes the report. Appendixes include: interview guides for GED students, employers, principals, and teachers; the ABE/GED staff survey questionnaire; vocational-technical and higher education admissions policies survey questionnaires; subtest samples; and the primary trait scoring guide. (KC)